MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

3/28 Ouch

Talk about tough. Cubs outfielder Reed Johnson was hit by a pitch on his right hand in the first inning Saturday, yet stayed in the game and made two perfect throws for two outfield assists. Teammate Ryan Dempster appreciated Johnson’s efforts.

“It was a grind out there today but I got through it,” said Dempster, who gave up four runs on eight hits and three walks over six innings. “Plus, I had Reed Johnson throwing everybody out.”

Johnson left the ballpark with a precautionary ice pack on his right hand.

Loveable losers? Give me a break. That game was lost in the 8th inning of a spring training game when we all know you pitch your best pitchers earlier in the game; not saving your best relievers for the 8th and the 9th as you would in a regular season game. In a regular season game they would have had a “W”. Go Cubs.

I sure hope a few day’s off is all Reed Johnson will need to get that hand feeling normal. My only prediction of the year is this: The key to the Cubs reaching the playoff’s this year, Reed Johnson, Sean Marshall, and Micah Hoffpauir.

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